January 13, 2026
Weekend hack, decades of debate
Thirteen Months That Changed IBM
From “stupid idea” to Linux legend — insiders cry “not so fast”
TLDR: IBM says a 1998–2000 Linux push reshaped the company and even hit mainframes. Commenters clap back: inside adoption was tough, old databases keep firms cautious, and the piece feels self‑congratulatory—vital history, but credit and the pain of modernization fuel the real debate.
IBM’s feel‑good origin story says a scrappy 13‑month push in 1998 took Linux from start‑up toy to enterprise power, even landing on hulking mainframes like IBM Z after a weekend “just for fun.” There’s drama baked in: the CEO famously called it “the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard… or maybe not,” and IBM later helped build the Linux Foundation. But the comment section is the real plot twist. One ex‑IBMer snaps that using Linux in the mid‑2000s was “an uphill battle,” turning the feel‑good montage into a corporate victory lap vs reality showdown. Another reader side‑eyes the credit: “a little Dan Frye‑centric,” hinting at a who‑really-did-the-work feud and a broader beef over tech history told by the people in charge. Meanwhile, a practical crowd wonders about the ancient enterprise databases (think DB2 and IMS—big, old, very reliable) and why no one wants the pain of moving them: reliability wins, migrations lose. The thread’s humor writes itself: Gerstner’s “stupidest idea” line becomes the reaction meme, “uphill battle” gets recast as a treadmill set to max incline, and everyone nods at the eternal corporate truth—modernization is bold in slides, brutal in practice.
Key Points
- •IBM initiated a formal Linux strategy in September 1998 to evaluate enterprise readiness.
- •An Open Source Program Office and the IBM Linux Technology Center were created to coordinate and advance Linux at IBM.
- •Linux was informally ported to IBM’s s/390 mainframe in Böblingen, Germany, and later officially approved.
- •IBM launched Linux on s/390 in May 2000 after executive approval in September 1999.
- •IBM helped found OSDL and supported its merger with the Free Standards Group to form the Linux Foundation, reinforcing community engagement.